head to head · open source
conductor vs Trigger
conductor has 32,404 GitHub stars, 1,050 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Trigger has 16,687 stars, 1,523 forks, 342 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. conductor leads on adoption by 94% (32,404 vs 16,687 stars). conductor is written in Java under Apache-2.0; Trigger is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. conductor has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, Trigger 9%. Trigger was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (workflow-automation), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| conductor | Trigger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick conductor if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Trigger if
- You want the Trigger feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Trigger fits your workflow better
About conductor
Conductor Durable Execution for Workflows and Agents Build agents that adapt. Run graphs that endure. Conductor is an open source durable execution platform for microservices, AI agents, and adaptive workflow graphs. It turns runtime choices—loops, branching, fan out, tool calls, approvals, retries, and cancellation—into durable, inspectable execution. It originated at Netflix and is actively maintained by Orkes and the community. Get Running in 60 Seconds Prerequisites: Node.js v16+ and Java 21+ must be installed. Open — your server is running with the built in ui next UI. Upgrading from a previous version? The…
read the full conductor overview →
About Trigger
Build and deploy fully‑managed AI agents and workflows Website Docs Issues Example projects Feature requests Public roadmap Self hosting About Trigger.dev Trigger.dev is the open source platform for building AI workflows in TypeScript. Long running tasks with retries, queues, observability, and elastic scaling. The platform designed for building AI agents Build AI agents using all the frameworks, services and LLMs you're used to, deploy them to Trigger.dev and get durable, long running tasks with retries, queues, observability, and elastic scaling out of the box. Long running without timeouts : Execute your…
read the full Trigger overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is conductor or Trigger more popular?
conductor has 32,404 GitHub stars and Trigger has 16,687. conductor has the larger community by that measure.
Are conductor and Trigger free?
Both are open source. conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Trigger under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between conductor and Trigger?
conductor is written in Java and Trigger in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, conductor or Trigger?
Choose conductor if you want the larger community (32,404 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Trigger if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.